Precious Flowers
by Cleo Calliope
Summary: 9th Doctor's era with Rose and Jack. A shopping trip to make some things up to Rose goes terribly wrong when a secret about the planet threatens to leave the group divided.
1. Among Chrysanthemums and Carnations

**Chapter 1**

**Among Chrysanthemums and Carnations**

_Carnation: Fascination_

_Chrysanthemum: Cheerfulness and rest, You are a good friend._

"I promise you," Jack said as he stepped out of the TARDIS. "This world has the best shopping for women's clothes in the universe. There's no place better." 

"Nice." Rose followed him eagerly out into the sunshine, blinking in the sudden brightness.

"And you know this _why_ exactly?" the Doctor asked, locking the door behind them. He was completely ignored by both his companions.

With his ship gone and no actual obligations to be anywhere or any when, it had been the most obvious thing to invite Jack to join them on their travels through time and space. And in the past couple of weeks Rose had found that travelling with both the Doctor and Jack was a great deal of fun - for the most part. They were both adventurous and enthusiastic and generally nice people into the bargain. Not to mention the eye-candy. What more could a girl ask for?

That being said, there were drawbacks. First of all was the shear volume of testosterone that had been flying around inside the TARDIS since Jack had joined them was probably poisonous. It was an entirely friendly rivalry, granted. However, Jack and the Doctor still seemed constantly to be trying to one up each other, both in the field as it were and by telling amazing - and probably wildly exaggerated - stories of the places they'd been and the things they'd done. And in Jack's case, the people he'd done as well. Rose had heard more in the last two weeks about the places the Doctor had been before she met him than she'd heard in all the months she'd been travelling with him before Jack's arrival. It had been fun at first, but it was getting old; not the stories so much as the unending competition behind them.

The other thing that had begun getting on her nerves was the lack of attention she'd been receiving. It wasn't that she _minded_ focussing a bit on showing Jack that he didn't know as much about time and space as he thought he did. She had to admit to a wicked little delight whenever the Doctor managed to show Jack something that truly surprised him. It didn't happen often, but it was always entertaining when it did. And she'd known that Jack's joining them would make things a little different. She'd been used to the TARDIS being hers and the Doctor's alone and, of course, adding a third party to the mix would shift the balance a little. At the same time though, Rose couldn't ignore the fact that she'd started to become jealous. She didn't like it. It made her feel... well, it made her feel petty. Just a stupid little ape after all who couldn't stand the fact that she wasn't the Doctor's sole focus anymore.

She'd tried to ignore it, pretend everything was fine. She told herself that she was just being silly, that the Doctor cared about her and valued her as much as he ever had. That Jack was like a new toy and once the Doctor got used to having him around the attention he gave to each of them would even out. She tried telling herself that he wasn't _actually_ ignoring her as such. It was just that she wasn't used to his attention being divided. All she had to do was give it time. She'd get used to it and not mind anymore.

She hadn't entirely believed either of her arguments, but she'd managed to at least _act_ patient while the newness of Jack's presence on board the TARDIS began to wear off. She simply kept telling herself that it would be fine when things settled back down and they were all used to the new situation.

However, their last two trips had been the final straw. It wasn't just that she wasn't used to the new situation. She _was_ being ignored. Both destinations had been chosen by the Doctor solely for Jack's benefit - or at least to benefit the Doctor's attempts to one up the ex-Time Agent - and in both the Doctor's lack of attention toward Rose had finally had consequences.

When Jack had started telling them war stories - or rather boasting about his competence as a soldier - the Doctor had taken them directly into the middle of a civil war. He'd managed to take Jack down a few pegs and show that he wasn't as good as he liked to think he was. Something Rose would have found amusing... if she'd been there to see it. But the Doctor had been paying so much attention to showing Jack the sights that he'd managed to lose Rose long enough to have them all seriously worried that they wouldn't find one another again. Rose had just turned around and the pair of them had been gone. It had been truly awful. Wandering around in the midst of a pitched battle, completely lost and entirely unarmed was _not_ something Rose was going to forget in a hurry. Neither was she going to forget the row she'd had with the Doctor afterwards or crying herself to sleep later that night.

Following that debacle, and as part of his rather ineffectual attempts to make peace between the Doctor and Rose, Jack had tried to draw the two of them into a discussion on whether or not war was an absolute in the universe. Instead of allowing himself to be pulled into a debate, however, the Doctor had taken it as a challenge. Although, Rose suspected it was partly because he wanted to get out of the TARDIS and away from the tense post-fight atmosphere. Their next stop had been on one of the few entirely pacifistic worlds in the universe. Again, Rose had had a truly dreadful time because the Doctor had forgotten to tell her a few basic facts about the race they were visiting. So, she'd found herself being locked up under suspicion of being violent by nature (this due to the fact that she'd thrown a wadded up piece of paper at the Doctor's head to get his attention when he'd been ignoring her in order to show off his knowledge of the world's history to Jack) and then by falling victim to an illness that existed no where else in the universe and that even the Doctor had never heard of. She wasn't sure what was worse, the way she'd felt while she was ill or the fact that she was too ill by the time the Doctor got to her to give him the piece of her mind she'd been saving up for him while she sat in that ugly, boring, god-awful prison cell.

It proved unnecessary though. After almost two days delirious with fever Rose had awoken to find the Doctor sitting at her bedside, beside himself with worry. No matter what she said to him she couldn't have made him more sorry than he'd made himself. Jack told her later that the Doctor had neither slept nor left her bedside for the entirety of the two days she was delirious. This after a day and a half of concerted effort to find her and free her from the prison she'd been placed in.

Now, almost a week later Rose had recovered enough for them to continue their travels. This time though she had the contrite and entirely focussed attention of both males who insisted that this trip would be somewhere special just for her. Anywhere she wanted, whatever she wanted to do. Provided it wasn't too strenuous since she still wasn't entirely recovered, or so the Doctor insisted. Rose felt fine and rather suspected he was being overly protective out of guilt. Which was fine with her. As far as she was concerned he was going to have to work for some time to make the last two trips up to her.

So, partly to replace the two outfits which were beyond repair after war and prison and partly to exact a little revenge on the Doctor, she'd insisted that she wanted to be taken shopping. She'd meant it more as a joke than a demand and she hadn't really expected that the boys would insist on going _with_ her. All in all, she'd have been happy with an afternoon back in London 2005 as long as it was the Doctor's money she was spending and he sprang for chips at the end of it. She hadn't anticipated just how seriously the Doctor and Jack would take her request.

Which was how they'd ended up on Temrin 8; the smallest world in a large but mostly uninhabited solar system, sometime in the 52nd century.

The TARDIS had landed safely in a little side street only a few blocks from the Plaza of Glass, the women's shopping area, in the early morning and all three of them were going to devote the entire day to clothes shopping for Rose. She still wasn't sure whether she was more touched by the gesture, amused by the mental image of the Doctor in the middle of a department store, or worried about what she might be inflicting on the unsuspecting shopkeepers of this alien planet.

Ah well. They were here and Rose was determined to enjoy both her shopping and her revenge.

"First thing I'm going to need is pair of sunglasses," Rose commented as they stepped out into a large thoroughfare, bright in the morning's sun. The clean white buildings and shining glass around them reflected back the light making everything almost too bright to look at. The whiteness of it all would have been overwhelming if it hadn't been for the trees and bushes which grew in a strip down the centre of the street. The streets gleamed and the sun promised a warm day to come. However, the morning breeze was still a little sharp and Rose was glad of her jacket.

"All that stuff you brought from Earth and you didn't bring sunglasses?" The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, a grin tugging at his lips.

"Says the man who has _two_ swimming pools and doesn't even own a bathing suit," Rose sniffled.

"Not all species are as hung up about nakedness as you humans are."

"I object," Jack said, as he started leading them down the street. "I have no problems whatsoever with skinny dipping. I much prefer it, in fact."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You don't count."

"Why not?" he demanded, turning to walk backwards as Rose and the Doctor followed him. "I'm human."

"You leave the door open when you shower!" she said. "You're an exhibitionist by nature. Therefore it's just you, not humans in general."

Jack's objections that his preferences did count and Rose's insistence that they didn't continued all the way to the end of the street. The Doctor refused to allow himself to be pulled into it, but listened to the good-natured bickering with evident amusement.

For the first time in a while Rose found herself relaxing, enjoying the company. She actually felt as though she were part of the group again, a feeling that deepened when the Doctor took her hand as they walked.

* * *

The Plaza of Glass was every bit as lovely as its name suggested and far larger than Rose had been expecting. It was the size of two football fields at least. In the middle was a park with winding paths amid tall trees, brightly blooming flowerbeds, and little white gazebos. This was surrounded by tall glittering buildings which seemed entirely made of glass and prisms that cast rainbows on the white cobles of the streets. The ground floor windows all round them displayed bolts of bright fabric, glass dummies modelling some of the most beautiful dresses Rose had ever seen, and stone pillars on which sat shoes in more styles than she'd ever even dreamed of. Looking up, she could see showrooms of more clothes through the higher windows. It wasn't only a shopper's paradise, it was truly a beautiful place.

"They've built it up a bit since I was here last," Jack remarked, looking around with self-satisfaction as though he'd built the place himself.

"It's great!" Rose enthused.

The Doctor shrugged. "I've seen better." He relented with a sheepish grin when they both glared at him. "Alright, not many. The Tulorins have always been great lovers of beauty. And it's not something they just enjoy either. It's part of their religion. So, even if you don't like an outfit don't say it's ugly," he told Rose. "That would be a _major_ insult."

"I'll keep that in mind," Rose said, eager to get started.

The shops were only just opening for the day and the plaza was still mostly empty. So, for the next couple of hours the three had the shops mostly to themselves. At first, Rose tried to focus on finding practical clothes with the unpredictability of their travels in mind. The shops unfortunately didn't carry trousers - apparently women on this world didn't wear them - but there was a wide enough variety of things that it wasn't too hard to find clothes she could use. She picked up a couple of tops and a knee length skirt that looked like cotton but was made of a fabric tougher than denim.

She took special delight in making the Doctor carry her bags.

He'd been fairly bored with the whole thing, amusing himself by teasing Rose about her love of something as frivolous as shopping and finding fault with any piece of clothing about which his opinion was asked. But he'd been going along with the shopping trip for Rose's sake and had stayed with them, not wandered off in search of something more interesting. That and the fact that he continued to hold her hand as they walked from shop to shop was enough for Rose.

After a while though the allure of the fancier things grew too much. With Jack's support Rose managed to drag the Doctor onto floors dedicated to arrays of some of the most stunning dresses she'd ever seen. Once there it didn't take too much persuasion on the part of the shop assistant to get her to try some of them on.

She felt like a princess standing in front of wall of mirrors in a strapless gown of a fabric that shimmered like silk and clung to her body like a second skin before fanning out in gleaming folds just below her hips. The russet colour set off her complexion perfectly, or so the shop assistant assured her, as he spread the bottom of the gown around her feet.

"Wow," Jack commented, looking Rose up and down with undisguised admiration.

Rose pulled her hair up on top of her head and held it there, turning her head this way and that while she imagined walking into a ball dressed like this.

Then she caught the Doctor looking at her in the mirror.

He'd flopped into a chair outside the dressing room when Rose had gone in to change, complaining that it was a waste of time since he wasn't buying her anything that impractical. Now, he sat staring at her with an intensity to his expression that made her breath catch and her mouth go dry.

She licked her lips nervously. "What do you think, Doctor?" she forced a little smile when he met her eyes in the mirror.

He seemed to wake up and the expression disappeared from his face, though not entirely from his eyes. He sat back obviously struggling to maintain the bored air he'd had all morning.

"The dress isn't bad," he said, shrugging. "It's a nice dress. Too bad about the colour though."

"What's wrong with it?" Rose asked, turning slightly and watching the play of the light across the fabric, hoping she wasn't blushing.

"Nothing that I can see," Jack offered, still watching Rose as though she were something he wanted to eat.

"It brings out the youthful beauty of her human complexion," the shop assistant, who had introduced himself as Lurrin, said with authority.

Rose tried to focus entirely on the dress as the Doctor's eyes swept over her, something in them not nearly as disinterested as his voice sounded.

_Oh just stop it_, she told herself silently. _You'd think that no one had ever looked at you in a dress before._ It was ridiculous. There Jack was, practically licking his lips while her mouth was going dry because something in the Doctor's expression was... what? Focussed? She'd asked him what he thought of the dress after all. But she couldn't help but remember the way he'd looked at her when she'd come out of the wardrobe in the TARDIS wearing that dress back in Cardiff.

"Well?" she asked, trying to cover her embarrassment. "What's wrong with it?"

He met her eyes again and this time she forced herself to hold his gaze, raising her eyebrows slightly. Then the Doctor grinned, one of those daft grins of his that seem to spread from one overlarge ear to the other.

"It makes you look like a Yee-yaris fire worm," he said firmly, his eyes dancing with sudden mischief.

Rose's indignation lasted less than a second, as she caught the shocked look on the face of the shop assistant. She'd never seen anyone more horrified in her life as he began to object in the most strenuous tones. Jack laughed outright.

"Tosser," Rose muttered, glancing back at the Doctor from the shop assistant, realising he said it just for that effect and struggling not to smile.

The Doctor winked.

Lurrin began babbling about other colours that the Doctor might like better and hurried off in a dither to find something else.

"The look on that guy's face..." Jack chuckled. Rose finally let herself laugh.

"You're just being mean," she said told the Doctor, lifting the edges of the skirt and twirling around in front of the mirror to see the shimmer of the fabric and distract herself from his gaze.

She found a moment later that she needn't have bothered. She glanced up when he didn't answer and found that he'd got up and gone over to the window. They were up on the fifth story and he looked out over the plaza frowning.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked.

"I don't know." He paused. "It's just... Does anything seem odd about this place to you?"

Rose walked over the looked out the window as well, trying to see what he was getting at. "Odd how?"

He shook his head. "It's probably nothing."

"Yeah, right," Jack snorted, joining them. "This is us we're talking about here. The possibility that it's nothing is probably billions to one against."

Rose stifled a laugh, but the Doctor seemed not to have heard.

"Doctor?" she asked, laying her hand on his arm to get his attention.

They were interrupted then by Lurrin's return with three more dresses for Rose's inspection and the Doctor shook his head and returned to his chair, appearing as indifferent to the proceedings as he had earlier.

As soon as Lurrin had bustled Rose back into the dressing room and back out again in the next dress the Doctor took up his game again, finding fault with how that dress fitted Rose and how colour of the one after that made her look sallow. He was always careful never to say that anything was wrong with the _dress_, that Rose remembered would have been an insult to the shop. And judging from the reactions of the shopping assistant one the poor guy might never recover from. Rose would have been insulted by this pastime, felt she _should_ be insulted... but somehow she wasn't. The bored look never quite seemed to return to his eyes and she could feel them on her at all times. It was almost unnerving. Almost.

Rose found herself playing along, trying not to think about what it was like being the focus of all of the Doctor's undivided attention. She dredged up as much offended dignity as she could, pretending to take his teasing seriously. Jack picked up the game as well, either agreeing with the Doctor's objections or finding some of his own.

It was mean to play with the poor shop assistant like that, but he made it so _easy_.

Despite all their heckling though each dress was more beautiful than the last and the more dresses Rose tried on the more she could almost _feel_ the Doctor's eyes on her. Each one of the gowns was a creation worthy of a fairytale and no matter what the Doctor's voice said, his eyes said something very different. Something that made Rose's knees go just a little weak.

The shop assistant grew increasingly complimentary toward her as the Doctor and Jack continued to find fault with everything Rose tried on. And as their objections grew sillier Lurrin's compliments grew more and more outrageous. Rose was thankful for this as struggling not to show her amusement and play along was keeping her from thinking things she'd rather not think. This was _the Doctor_ after all. They weren't like that. They just _weren't_.

It was the dresses, she decided. They made things... different. It would be alright again when she was back in her own clothes and was just Rose once more.

So, it was with a mixture of relief and regret that she entered the dressing room the final time to take off the last of the dresses and put back on her denim skirt and plain top. They both seemed so ordinary after the swing of full skirts around her and the shimmer of expensive fabrics. She sighed as she looked at herself in the mirror one last time. This gown was silver and form-fitting, made of the same silk-like material as the russet one earlier. The sleeves came down to a V-shape over her hands, which made her wrists look smaller and more delicate than she would have thought possible. The square-cut neckline showed rather more cleavage than the kind of thing she usually wore but it stopped just short of being sluttish, promising rather than actually revealing.

She ran her hands over the material, feeling the cool slide of it. She'd never been the fairytale kind of girl, never really wanting to be the beautiful princess who the prince fell in love with at a glance. She wanted to be appreciated for herself, not a nice dress and a good makeup job. Just the same, the way she felt in these dresses... the way she felt when _the Doctor_ looked at her when she was wearing them...

Rose pushed the thoughts away. They were friends, they cared about each other. That was all. He was an alien for crying out loud. They probably weren't even compatible... well, _that_ way. Oh god, she wished she hadn't even thought that. Just the same, she couldn't help but wonder if he actually even _had_...

"Rose?" She almost jumped a foot as the Doctor's voice from just outside the door interrupted her thoughts. "You okay in there?"

She made herself take a deep breath, knowing she was blushing even though there was no way he could know what she'd just been thinking. She suddenly wanted to wash her mind out with soap.

"Yeah," she called out, reaching back to unfasten the dress.

"What's taking so long?"

"Nothin'." Her voice was a little breathless as the tiny, fabric-covered buttons up the back slipped through her fingers. "Um, where did the guy - Lurrin - go?"

"To put the other dresses away. Why?"

"Ah..."

"Problem?"

Rose strained again, trying to get the buttons undone and wishing for the first time that the dress wasn't so form fitting. There was no way she could get the thing over her head, which meant...

Oh god. This wasn't fair. It just _wasn't_.

"I need help," Rose admitted in defeat. "I can't get these sodding buttons undone."

"Oh." For a moment there was nothing but silence outside the dressing room door. Then in a rather strained voice: "Do you... want me to come in then?"

Rose rolled her eyes, trying to concentrate on being annoyed so she wouldn't have to feel embarrassed. "Well, you can't exactly undo them from out there, can you?"

"Right." There was silence again.

"Doctor?"

"Yeah," he said, finally opening the door. If Rose hadn't known better she would have said he was blushing a little as he came in. Did Time Lord's blush?

Rose stared fixedly at her feet, just sticking out from the bottom of the dress as the Doctor began work on the long row of tinny buttons that ran from the base of her neck to the bottom of the dress. He didn't have to undo all of them, only down to her hips for her to get the dress off. But that seemed like far too much at the moment. Funny, she hadn't thought anything of it when the shop assistant had been doing them up for her. He was just... it just wasn't the same. She could feel her heart beating too fast and fervently hoped it wasn't as loud as it sounded to her.

As he got the first few buttons undone, one of the Doctor's fingers accidentally brushed against her skin and a shiver ran up Rose's spine, startling her.

For a second, the Doctor froze before slipping the next button through it's loop careful not to touch her again. Rose wasn't sure if she was pleased about that or not.

He worked his way slowly down her back and she could feel the slight pull of the fabric across her breasts as he tugged lightly on the dress. Strange that the simple pull of fabric should suddenly feel so... so intimate.

_Because he's like you. Except with dating and dancing._

_You just assume that I don't... dance._

Rose wished she knew what he was thinking, but she didn't even dare look up from her feet to see the reflection of his face in the mirror. The memory of that conversation during the London blitz had been coming back to her a lot since she'd begun to recover from the fever. The Doctor had been so worried. He hadn't slept, hadn't left her side for the entire time she was unconscious. Of course, she knew Time Lords didn't need as much sleep as humans did. The Doctor was always having a go at her about how little stamina she had. Seventeen or eighteen hours of mayhem and she was off to sleep again. But he did need _some_ sleep, she was sure. And as for never leaving her side... And how frantic Jack had said he'd been to find her... How dead set against Jack he'd been when they first met him... Jealous? Was that possible?

The dress was beginning to loosen as the Doctor continued down the line of buttons and Rose reached up to grasp the neck. Suddenly, the neckline of the dress seemed far to revealing as it was and she certainly didn't want anything more to show. She just tried to focus on breathing slow and steady. God, she wished she hadn't taken off her bra before trying this dress on. Although what protection that would have provided her with now she didn't know. It was just that she felt that much more naked under the dress without it.

Rose finally felt the last of it loosen as the Doctor undid the buttons holding the dress tight across her hips. If Rose were to let go of her death-grip on the front of the dress she's be standing in front of him in nothing but her knickers. Her grip tightened.

She nearly gasped as she felt a cool hand suddenly against the small of her back, lightly tracing her spine. Her eyes flew up to the mirror in front of her to find the Doctor looking at her with a strained look on his face.

When he spoke his voice was softer than normal, almost a little hoarse. "You... you lost some weight while you were ill," he said. "I hadn't... hadn't really noticed how much before."

Rose opened her mouth to reply and found she couldn't think of a single thing to say standing there all but naked with the Doctor's hand on her back. And even if she could have thought of anything, she wasn't sure she could manage to make a single sound as they stared at one another in the mirror...

"Rose?"

They both jumped and the Doctor snatched his hand back as though he'd been burnt. Rose spun around, gripping the dress tighter against her and raising it higher.

"Rose, do you have any idea where the Doctor's got to?" Jack's voice was muffled by the closed dressing room door and Rose was thankful that the Doctor had thought to close it when he'd come in.

"He's in here helping me with the dress," Rose answered, pleased that her voice managed to come out sounding almost normal, instead of shaking as badly as her knees seemed to want to. She couldn't look at the Doctor.

"What do you want?" the Doctor called back.

"I think I figured out what you were talking about earlier. About something being off about this place?"

Rose's eyes shot to the Doctor's face, the promise of adventure overcoming her shyness. "Trouble?" she asked, just a tad too hopefully.

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe. Get dressed, then we'll all talk."

For a moment after he left Rose sagged against the wall, trying to catch her suddenly too fast breathing and calm her rapid heartbeat.

What the sodding hell had that been all about? Was she just imagining things or... But the promise of adventure tugged her mind away from whatever might or might not have been happening.

She stripped off the dress with more haste than was appropriate for something so expensive and grabbed for her own clothes.


	2. My Clematis Amid the Scent of Lavender

**Chapter 2**

**My Clematis Amid the Scent of Lavender**

_Clematis: I love your mind_

_Lavender: Suspicion, Distrust_

"Okay, let me get this straight. You're worried because the shop assistant was a bloke?"

They were sitting in the shade of a gazebo in the park across from the shops. They'd grabbed some rolls with meat in the middle of them from a vender they'd passed along the way and were now trying to sort out what exactly it was that was wrong with this little piece of shopping heaven. Or hell, the Doctor thought, depending on whether you were the one shopping or the one stuck carrying the bags.

Jack was shaking his head. "No, not really. That didn't bother me. Not at first anyway."

"Really?" the Doctor asked, turning to him in surprise. "That was what first bothered me. I mean, they're women's clothing stores. Why are all the employees male?"

Rose gave him that slightly annoyed, slightly amused look that meant he'd misjudged something she thought was obvious again. He'd been under the impression that he knew both humans and women fairly well before he met Rose. It was tiresome to be constantly wrong at his age. "No, that's not strange for posh setups like these," she said in a long suffering tone. When he continued to stare at her blankly she rolled her eyes. "Women love to be fawned over by men. So, if they get the chance shops are always happy to hire blokes to do the fawning. It's just that they don't usually apply to work in clothing stores so they're stuck with women. The high scale ones that can afford to pay a bit more... Lots of male employees."

"Oh," the Doctor answered, somewhat taken aback. He wasn't sure what bothered him more the idea of working somewhere where you were expected to fawn over strange women or the thought of Rose being fawned over by strange men.

"_That's_ what was bothering you?" Rose was obviously struggling not to laugh at him outright.

He hated it when a nineteen year old human could make him feel clueless. Of course, it was better than when she made him feel... He pushed his thoughts away from what had happened earlier and focussed on the problem at hand. Not that anything _had_ happened, he assured himself. He was completely overreacting and there were other - real - things to worry about here and now.

"At first," he admitted, trying to pull his dignity together. "But there's more to it than that."

Jack nodded. "The guys at the shops didn't bother me until I noticed the other bit."

Rose heaved a sigh. "Which _is_?"

The Doctor leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and thought about how to put the sense of wrongness he'd been feeling all morning into words and then thought better of it.

"Look over there," said the Doctor, nodding towards the street. "What's wrong with that picture? Don't look at the strange clothes or skin colours, just look at the people. What's not right about a place that's entirely devoted to shopping for women?"

Rose frowned, staring fixedly at the pedestrians, clearly struggling to see what the hell they were getting at. He watched her face, waiting for her to figure it out. It would have been easy to just _tell_ her what it was that was bothering him, what Jack had only just realized. But the Doctor wanted to see her figure it out for herself, both because she could and because she's be happier if she did. Rose Tyler didn't want to just be shown the universe. She wanted to see it for herself, make sense of it on her own terms. It was one of the things he admired about her the most. She wasn't just a tourist as so many of his companions had been. Good people all of them, in their own ways. But Rose was... well, she was more like him.

She didn't always want to be told what everything was or meant and even if she was, she wasn't always willing to take those explanations at face value. She watched and learned and made her own judgments. And she could be bloody stubborn once she'd made up her mind about something. Frustrating as hell when their ideas about what should done contradicted each other, the Doctor reflected ruefully. At the same time though, he wouldn't have her any other way. His Rose was far too much fun as she was.

He paused mid-thought. _His_ Rose? He pushed that thought away as it, like the memory of her in those damn silly dresses, lead in a direction he was trying not to go. She was only nineteen, for crying out load. She was still just trying to find her feet in the universe and the last thing she needed was a complicated relationship with some 900 year old git who was barely sane these days based on the standards of just about any time or place. They were friends. That was all. He'd be damned if he was going to take advantage of her youth and affection. Besides, there was time. He had all the time in the universe, didn't he?

Although he didn't feel quite as confident about that now as he had. The universe was a dangerous place. How close he'd come to losing her yet _again_ only this last week had finally made him feel... well, a little more desperate to make good use of the time he had with her instead of counting on time together they may not have. But that only brought him back to how young Rose still was. No, it was best for both of them to let things stay as they were.

"Hmm..." The Doctor was brought sharply back to the present as Rose bit her lip. Her eyes narrowed and he could almost _see_ the cogs turning in her head.

"Hmm...?" Jack questioned.

"If there was a place like this in London," she said slowly. "My mate, Shareen, and I would have been down here with all the girls we could get together every opportunity we got. Whether we was broke or not we'd still come just to hang about and have a laugh."

"Great bunch of fun you lot must be," the Doctor remarked. It would never cease to amaze him how anyone, let alone someone like Rose, could find something as boring as hanging around a shopping centre amusing. Someone who could appreciate the wonders of the wider universe should be above all that, shouldn't they?

Rose just gave him a look and he hurried to continue. "But that was sort of the point I was trying to make though. Where are the groups of giggling pubescent girls that usually abound in these places? But it's not just that either."

"There's also how many men there are," Jack said, unable to keep himself from showing off any longer. "Just men, shopping here all by themselves. That's what first got me. I mean, I like looking at women's clothes as much as the next guy. I just usually like women to be in them at the time."

"Or on their way out of 'em?" Rose prompted.

Jack grinned. "That too. And they can't _all_ be transvestites here or they wouldn't be bothering to wear men's clothes while shopping for women's clothes, would they?"

"Actually, what _really_ gets me," Rose said, turning back to look at the passersby in the street, "is that just about every women here has got a bloke in tow, but no other women with them."

"Exactly!" the Doctor said, making both of his companions jump. He beamed at Rose. "I've been watching the whole time we've been here and I haven't seen a single woman here on her own. And none of them were with other women either. They were all with men."

"Come on," Jack said, clearly taken aback. "I mean, I've noticed the trend but... _None_?"

"Not. A. One," the Doctor confirmed.

"Then you weren't looking too hard," Rose said. She pointed across the plaza. "There's one."

The Doctor turned around in surprise to see an older woman walking from one of the shops toward a vender selling drinks.

"So much for that theory," Jack commented, as the lady began ordering something. "It's still weird though how..."

"Wait!" the Doctor cut him off. As they watched, a man in the uniform of what he guessed to be the security guards around here approached the woman and began speaking to her earnestly. She pointed behind her toward the shop, but the guard seemed unsatisfied with whatever it was she was saying and he took her by the elbow, clearly trying to lead her away.

The women tried to pull her arm free but only succeeded for a moment before he caught her again. He continued speaking to her softly, pulling her slowly away from the vendor despite her efforts to stay put.

The Doctor stood up, with Jack and Rose only just behind him as they two continued to struggle, but before they could intervene on the woman's behalf a younger man came running from the store the woman had gestured to. He began speaking rapidly to the security guard, pointedly taking the woman's arm from the other man. There was a brief exchange where the younger man seemed to hang his head as though he was receiving a dressing down before the security guard headed off and the young man lead the woman back into the shop.

The whole thing had been watched with interest by the most of the people nearby. However, the show over, they all turned away and seemed to shake their heads at one another as though to ask what the world was coming to.

In the gazebo a little ways away the three time travellers sat back down and looked at each other.

"Rose," the Doctor said. "While we're here, make sure you stay with Jack or I at all times."

For once, Rose didn't argue. She just nodded.

"What was that all about?" Jack muttered. "I mean, she was just trying to buy a drink."

"Looks almost like women aren't allowed out by themselves or something." Rose looked to the Doctor for confirmation.

He nodded. "That's what it looks like to me, too."

"Well, it sure wasn't like that the last time I was here," Jack said. "I mean, you had to be careful about how you treated women, sure. I almost got arrested for propositioning one. They said it was disrespectful. But it wasn't like they needed an escort to go anywhere. You just had to be nice to them."

"And I bet there were a lot more women in the plaza and a lot less men," said the Doctor.

"Oh yeah."

Rose shook her head. "I don't get it. I mean, how does a culture go from nearly arresting a bloke for being disrespectful to a women, to not allowing them the freedom to go to the shops by themselves? That's a bit of a turn around, yeah?"

"Or a continuation into an extreme," the Doctor mused.

"What?"

The Doctor shook his head, not liking the picture that was forming in his mind. He'd always thought of the Tulorins as a rather silly but generally harmless race. Their love of all things beautiful led to a bit of a neglect when it came to more practical things, in his opinion, but at the same time their fairly egalitarian ideas had lead to a mostly peaceful society. But what they were seeing here...

"Well, there's more than one way to deprive people of rights," the Doctor explained. "There's the kind where you think they're not worth it or the kind where you become... shall we say, overly protective?"

Jack frowned. "You mean, that they decided they respected women so much that they couldn't be allowed out without someone to look after them, protect them?"

"Don't ya think that's a little unlikely," Rose objected. "What I mean is, that's not respect. It's the opposite. The highest from of respect is to give someone self-determination."

The men both looked at her in surprise.

"What? I can use big words, too!" she huffed.

Jack tried to hide a grin, but didn't entirely succeed and got kicked for it.

"I agree with you, in principle," the Doctor said, intervening before a scuffle could start in earnest. This wasn't the time or the place for it. "Unfortunately..."

"...not everyone's gonna to see it that way," she finished for him. "I get that, but I still think it's a bit of a stretch from what Jack was taking about to _this_." She gestured around them.

"I have to agree with Rose on that one," Jack said. "But either way, if I'm remembering my dates right this is only about two centuries ahead of when I was here last. How did it get from that to this - which ever way they got there - _that_ fast?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" The Doctor stood up and stretched. "Whatever it is, we're not going to find it sitting around here. And Rose, you get to carry your own bags from now on, okay?"

"I don't know," Rose said, eyeing them without enthusiasm. "It might be disrespectful here to make a woman carry her own bags."

The Doctor just made a face and strolled away from the gazebo leaving Rose to carry the bags herself or leave them behind. He grinned at her when she appeared beside him, bags in tow. He didn't get kicked, but she did refuse to hold his hand for nearly five minutes.

* * *

An hour spent walking the circuit the Plaza of Glass and its immediate surroundings had revealed nothing but the confirmation of their earlier observations. Most of the shoppers around them were either men alone or in small groups, sometimes they had a women with them, sometimes they didn't. Rose had tried making eye contact with the women they passed and while they'd smile back readily enough, but they always turned their attention back to one of the men with them immediately afterward. However, when the Doctor and Jack had tried the same thing, neither could get any of the women to even meet their eyes. The three puzzled over this while they walked and Jack couldn't help noticing with mild amusement how tightly the Doctor was holding Rose's hand by the time they got back to where they'd started, in front of the store where Rose had tried on the gowns.

"No eye contact except with the guys you're with," Rose muttered to herself. "How boring!"

"And the shop assistants," Jack reminded her. "That seemed okay."

"Yeah, but still. Kind of limits your flirting pool, don't it?"

"Definitely," Jack agreed, bestowing his most charming smile on a particularly attractive woman and getting absolutely nothing in return.

"Still," the Doctor said. "I'd be careful about who you make eye contact with, at least until we understand what's going on. And that goes for both of you."

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "I think we got that much, thanks Doctor."

He grinned at her. "Knew you were a clever little ape."

She stuck her tongue out at him and Jack snorted. "What about me?" he demanded. "I'm clever, too."

"Still waiting for evidence of that," the Doctor said. "For that matter, I'm still waiting for evidence that you're actually human."

Jack fluttered his eyelashes. "Want to examine me, Doctor?"

"Don't think your insurance would cover it, mate."

"Uh, not to interrupt your male-bonding or anything, but have either of you noticed that before?" Rose had stopped, pulling the Doctor to a halt with her and was pointing toward the park.

The centre of the park had seemed to consist simply of a small area of densely growing bushes and trees. Jack had written it off as an attempt to bring a bit of stylish "wilderness" into the town. But from the angle they were looking at now they could see a gap in the thick hedge into which a small path led. Inside was a semi-private area where they could just see a man standing in front of a tall white column, two children with him. Something about the little area suggested someplace special.

"It's probably just an area for a bit of peace and quiet," the Doctor said dismissively, but he headed towards it anyway, Rose in tow and Jack beside her. The three quickly crossed the road and headed into the park. While they approached they saw one of the children, a little girl, step forward and lay a small bunch of flowers on the ground beside the column. Then the man took her and the other child by the hand and lead them out of the area away along another path.

By the time they entered it, the little hedge room was disserted. It wasn't large, probably only about five metres across Jack guessed. Two small gaps on opposite sides of the circular enclosure were the only way in or out and the tall hedges and trees around it muffled the sounds of the city around them, making the place much quieter than the world outside. Jack felt the loss of the sounds keenly. He just wasn't sure yet whether it was soothing or eerie. The white pillar stood directly in the middle of the circle with a path going all the way around it, around that was a small space of grass which quickly gave way to trees, then hedges. The little girl's bright red flowers lay forlornly against the white gravel at the pillar's base. There were a few other faded bunches of flowers about the pillar, most of which had clearly been there for some time.

The pillar itself was white stone, each of its four sides was smooth but for some kind of runic inscription halfway up to the rounded top.

Jack frowned. "I can't read it."

"Not surprised," the Doctor said. Jack glanced at him quickly, but for once no jibe was forthcoming. The Doctor was starting up at the inscription, too intent on the problem at hand to take advantage of the opportunity to rub in his superior knowledge. "It's a really old alphabetic system, not used much in this part of the galaxy any more. Usually just for ceremonial or religious purposes, if it's remembered at all.

"What's it say then?" Rose asked.

"Basically, 'In memory of our precious flowers, taken in the spring of their lives'," the Doctor said. "Then it just gives a year."

Rose looked down at the flowers around the pillar's base. "This seems a bit extreme in memory of a garden, so I'm thinking we're not _actually_ talking about flowers here."

"I doubt it," the Doctor said, frowning. "Interestingly enough, the year they gave is right smack dab between now and when Jack was last here."

Jack had been scowling up at the monument for sometime trying to remember where he'd heard that phrasing before. It came to him in a flash and he snapped his fingers. "Got it!"

"Got what?" Rose demanded.

"Where I've heard something like that before," he said. "When I was here last there was this big thing about women and flowers, they seemed to use the terms synonymously."

"Come again?"

The Doctor was frowning up at the inscription. "So," he said, more to himself than to them, "about a hundred years ago a whole bunch of women die and this is set up in their honour. But what could possibly..."

"Hey look," Rose interrupted him. She pointed ahead to the grassy area all round the edges of the circle and pulled her hand out of the Doctor's to go to the edge of the path. "What does that say?" she asked as the men joined her, pointing down to a small white stone set into the ground just off the path.

"Donacaro," the Doctor said. "I think that's another city around here somewhere."

"Here's another one," Jack called, pointing out another small stone a few feet from the one Rose had found.

"Torusus," the Doctor reported. "That, I'm sure is a city. About a continent away though, I think."

They spread themselves around the edges of the path and found more than thirty of the small stones with names on them, some that the Doctor or Jack recognised as places on the planet and some they didn't, but were presumably placenames as well.

"Just how wide spread was this thing?" Jack asked finally. "I mean, if these stones have to do with that," he pointed at the pillar, "we've got to be talking about hundreds dead, at least, probably thousands. We've got cities from every continent on it listed here."

"They can't all have been women," Rose objected. "I mean, unless they went around killing them themselves and then felt bad about it later."

The Doctor nodded. "Oh, it had to have been deliberate. Anything natural, like a disaster or disease, would kill both sexes indiscriminately."

They fell silent for a moment, each contemplating the stones around the edges and thinking about just how many dead they might signify.

"Okay," the Doctor said finally. "Supposing we take this as..."

"Doctor!"

He was cut off by a shriek and both he and Jack spun around to find that two of the plaza security guards had a hold of a struggling Rose, while another stepped forward toward them.

"Rose!" The Doctor was across to them in a moment, Jack at his heals. "What do you think...!"

He was cut off again as the leading guard raised a weapon. "I apologise for the suddenness, but we must take the girl with us."

"The hell you will!" Jack said. "What for?"

"Let her go," the Doctor demanded. He'd gone utterly still next to Jack and the low softness of his voice was far more menacing than shouting would have been.

The guard strengthened his grip on the gun and pointed it firmly at the Doctor. "We will not harm her. This is for her own good. Any complaints can be made..."

A bellow from one of the guards behind him, as Rose brought her foot down hard on his instep, caught the leader's attention just long enough for Jack to spring towards him. It was not enough to get the gun away from him however and the next thing Jack knew he was lying on his back, a blazing pain in his left shoulder.

"Jack!" he heard Rose yell.

"I assure you, your violent resistance to our rescue operation will be noted," the leader said, backing up hastily. Clearly as taken aback by this turn of events as they were. "You will be expected before the magistrate."

"Rescue operation?" Jack demanded, struggling into a sitting position. His query was lost though as the Doctor shouted Rose's name again just as the three guards, with Rose still held between them, disappeared.


	3. Zinnias Incased in Stone

**Chapter 3**

**Zinnias Incased in Stone**

_Zinnia: Constancy, Thinking of a lost friend_

"Rose!"

The Doctor's shout rang in the sudden silence that followed the disappearance of Rose and the three guards. The Doctor had lunged forward just as they had disappeared and he now stood frozen on the spot where they had been, staring down at Rose's dropped and forgotten shopping bag.

Jack found he couldn't move, shock rendering him temporarily mute and still. They could hear little of the city around them in this quiet refuge and the silence now seemed to be crushing in around the pair. All Jack could see was the frightened look on Rose's face just before she'd vanished.

It was the Doctor who finally broke the stillness, stooping quickly he picked up something small and white from the ground next to the bag.

"What is it?" Jack asked, his voice returning to him. He sat up but found that the idea of getting to his feet was currently beyond contemplation. His shoulder burned and his whole body felt jittery as though he'd just suffered a massive electric shock. Which, he reflected, was probably what had happened. A glance at his shoulder was enough to confirm that beyond a little singling his jacket was undamaged, ruling out all projectile weapons.

"Doctor?" he asked again, when he received no response. The Doctor just stood there looking at what appeared to be a white card of some sort, about the size of an index card. Jack could see his profile and although his face was expressionless his jaw was clenched so hard it looked like it hurt.

When he finally spoke his voice was clipped and emotionless.

"At the request of the Commission for the Protection of Females you are to present yourself at the commission headquarters as soon as possible for an interview in preparation for a review of your case by a panel of adjudicators and possible legal action. Until a verdict has been reached your female will be under the care of the commission."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jack demanded.

"It means we know who took Rose," the Doctor answered, his voice still without any emotion what so ever. Jack frowned. When the Doctor went all android on them it was never a good sign, usually Jack left Rose to deal with him at such times. But now...

The Doctor turned suddenly and knelt by Jack. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Jack said. "A little shaky. Some kind of an electric impulse weapon, I think. But I'm okay."

"Good. Because we have to find out where this commission is keeping Rose and get her out of here."

He was being _way_ too calm, Jack thought. Which, of course, meant that he wasn't calm at all and when he got his hands on whoever was responsible for this... Well, Jack just hoped Rose was there to keep the Doctor from doing anything he'd regret later. She was the only one who could get through to him at times like that. Or like this, which was why Jack just nodded in assent and struggled up to his feet.

He wanted to be upset himself, to be worried and angry and all the rest of it. But one look at the Doctor's face convinced him that for once it was Jack who was going to have to be calm and reasonable.

Damn, he hated having to be the reasonable one.

This was the second time in less than two weeks that Rose had been taken from them and as worried as Jack was for her safety - and he was more than worried, he was absolutely petrified - he was also well aware that it was probably nothing in comparison to how upset the Doctor was underneath his suddenly icy exterior. He had been utterly frantic when she'd been arrested back on Meoris and Jack wished he'd be frantic again this time. Frantic was something Jack could understand, something that made sense. This icy calm was different. Jack had only seen it a couple of times and it spoke of all the things Jack still didn't know about the Doctor. It was at this point that he ceased being anything close to human and became someone very, _very_ dangerous.

The Doctor didn't wait for Jack, he turned and grabbed Rose's shopping bag, heading out of the little memorial and leaving Jack to hurry after him.

"What's the plan," Jack asked, glancing back at the pillar a last time. His concerned curiosity had morphed into honest fear of what it might be in remembrance of. Funny what a little perspective could do for a person.

"First we find one of those guards."

When the Doctor didn't elaborate farther, Jack sighed and began scanning the plaza around them. Everything looked just the same as when they'd gone into the memorial area and it had no damn right to look the same as far as Jack was concerned. But frustration with the sunny day and the happy shoppers wasn't going to help Rose. Finding a guard might.

"Do you remember that guard earlier?" Jack asked. "And the lady by the drinks vender?"

"Yes," was the clipped reply.

"I don't understand, as soon as that guy showed up to collect her the guard moved on. Why would they suddenly change their procedure and..."

"There," the Doctor said, cutting Jack off and starting off toward a guard strolling along the street not far from them.

"Nice to know I'm being listened to," Jack muttered as he hurried off after the Doctor. They cut across the grass as there didn't seem to be any paths which ran in the straight line from them to the guard. This earned them a few disapproving glances that Jack ignored and the Doctor seemed not to notice.

"What does this mean?" the Doctor demanded harshly, holding out the card as they approached the young man in the uniform of what, up until now, Jack had thought of only as security guards. He wasn't sure what he thought they were now.

The young man looked a little taken aback and nervous of the imposing stranger baring down on him, but he reached out and took the card anyway, glancing over it. His expression chanced immediately and became a bit harder. He glanced up at the Doctor with something akin to dislike.

"It means that you need to report to the commission," he said, handing the card back.

"Yeah, we get that," Jack said, before the Doctor could respond. "But who are they? Why'd they take her and where do we go to get her back?"

The guard looked at Jack in puzzlement. "How can you not..?" he started, then stopped and adopted a more formal attitude. "You need to go to the commission headquarters, that's on the Plaza of Trees, on the other side of the city from here. You will receive a full explanation there."

"_Why_ did they take her?" the Doctor demanded harshly, emotion creeping into his voice for the first time.

"There could be any number of reasons," the young man said, standing up to his full height which was still several inches shorter than the Doctor. "I suggest that you go to the commission and ask them."

After a brief set of directions, Jack turned to begin what sounded like a rather long walk, but paused when the Doctor didn't immediately follow him.

"That memorial," the Doctor said, motioning back toward the park. His voice back to icy control again. "What is it for?"

"The Great Death," the guard answered.

"And that was?"

The guard looked genuinely confused now. "When the Utorian Fever struck, more than a century ago now."

"Utorian Fever?" Jack asked. "What's that? We're not from around here," he hastily added when the guard looked at him in astonishment.

"You must be from off-planet not to know about that."

"We are," the Doctor snapped. "What's this fever about then?"

"There was an epidemic. A pandemic actually," the guard told them reluctantly, still eyeing the Doctor with thinly veiled animosity. "It swept through the entire world, killed millions."

"Why is the memorial dedicated to your 'precious flowers'?"

"Why do you care?" the guard demanded, finally beginning to look frustrated with the entire conversation.

The Doctor's jaw clenched again and Jack jumped in before he could lose his cool with the guard. Somehow he didn't think that bringing the authorities down on their heads right then would be terribly helpful.

"We sort of have a bet on it," he said, blurting out the first thing he could think of. He nearly winced as he heard himself. How cliched could you get? But he put on his most sincere expression as the guard looked at him skeptically. "So, is the memorial just dedicated to the women who died or did this thing only kill women?"

"It's not a subject for bets," the guard snapped. "The death toll was catastrophic!"

"Sorry," Jack said, trying to look as apologetic as he could. "I didn't mean to..."

"So, it didn't kill just women, then?" the Doctor interrupted.

"No," the guard said finally, his tone altering slightly, betraying a discomfort with the subject. "It did only kill women. Now, if you will excuse me, I have rounds to make."

He strode off quickly, casting one last suspicious glance behind him.

"That isn't possible," the Doctor said when he'd gone. "Whether the thing was viral or bacterial in origin, it would _still_ attack male and female alike..." Then he shook his head, pulling himself together. "We need to get Rose out of here."

Jack wasn't going to argue with that and they quickly headed off in the direction the guard had indicated as leading to the commission headquarters.

"How could a fever could kill only women and not men?" Jack asked as they left the Plaza of Glass behind them.

"I have no idea," was the short, sharp reply.

"Okay, any idea why that guard was so reluctant to talk about it?"

"Not sure about that either."

"Great," Jack said. "Think it's tied in to why they took Rose?"

"I'm certain of it."

"Well, at least that's something."

There were several things in the universe that Rose had really come to hate. Hanging from a barrage balloon was... well, up there. As was having any kind of weapon pointed at her. But there were few things that she hated with quite the same passion as teleportation.

* * *

The world was black around her and then stunningly white and all Rose knew for sure was that she was going to be sick. She felt hands on her, lifting her head which only served to bring the headache she'd acquired into focus and sharpen the nausea. She groaned as an arm slipped around her shoulders and brought her into a partial sitting position. Then she was violently ill.

As the spasms passed she became aware of voices around her. One was close at hand, telling her that it was alright. Just breath deeply. There seemed to be other voices arguing not far away.

She forced her eyes open, squinting against the bright light and found herself looking down into a bucket that seemed to contain the remains of her lunch. She groaned again and shut her eyes.

"Do you feel like you're going to be ill again?" asked the voice close to her.

She didn't trust herself to speak, so she just shook her head a little, regretting it immediately. She couldn't for the life of her figure out where she was or what was going on just at that moment, but she didn't appear to be in any danger and that was a good sign at least. She heard the bucket being taken away and thankfully it took the smell of sick with it.

"Here, drink this." She opened her eyes again to find a glass of water being held before her. The hand proffering it was green, but Rose didn't particularly care at that moment. Her hand shook as she took the glass, but she managed several grateful sips of the water before pressing the cool glass to her forehead. God, she hated throwing up.

"Where..." When she managed to speak her voice came out a bit rough. "Where's the Doctor?"

"You don't need a doctor, dear," the same solicitous voice answered her. "You're just reacting to the teleportation. I'm sorry about that, by the way. Special circumstances, I'm afraid. They had to get you out of there quickly as there was a threat of violence. Usually we never use something that's such a shock to the system. And certainly never with humans since you react so badly."

While her helper had been speaking Rose found her head slowly clearing and she managed to sit up on her own, the arm that had been supporting her, green like the hand, was removed. She turned her head and found herself looking into an equally green face, with gold, cat-like eyes.

Teleportation. That would explain why she felt so crummy but...

"How is she doing, Nollon?" asked a gruff voice from behind her and turning Rose got her first glimpse of where she was.

She and the green alien were sitting in the middle of a white stone floor in a large white stone room. Elaborately carved wooden desks lined the walls to either side of them with double doors at one end, wooden and even more elaborately carved than the desks, and a very large computer of some sort at the other. There were people all around, although they all seemed to be keeping a certain distance from were she and her companion were being stood over by a large and rather pump man who looked human. Although by now Rose knew better than to assume that meant he actually _was_ human.

The only thing all the people around them had in common, beside bipedal locomotion, was that they were all male. And that finally kicked Rose's memory into action.

She was on her feet before she even thought about it and then instantly regretted it as she swayed, the world dimming around her a little as nausea coiled in her stomach again.

"Careful, there," said the gruff man, catching her arm.

Nollon was already on his feet behind her, putting an arm around her waist to support her. "It's all right. There's no need to be alarmed..."

Rose swallowed, pushing back the pain and the nausea and shrugged away both of the mens' arms away. "Yes, there bloody well is! You kidnapped me! Where am I? Where's the Doctor? What the hell do you want?"

The gruff man merely raised an eyebrow at her as though he thought her something of an oddity as she stepped away from them, glancing around to see if there was any escape routs other than the door, which was too far with too many people between her and it. There were windows along the wall to her left, but judging from the tops of the trees she could see through them, they were at least three or four stories up. No way out that way.

"You haven't been kidnapped," Nollon assured her, gently. "My name is Nollon O'torinsalour and I am the social worker assigned to your case. This is Chief Ro'ulan, in charge of our section of the CPF. There's nothing to worry about. Now, if you'll just come with me."

He reached out to take her arm, but Rose yanked it out of his grasp, backing up another step.

"That doesn't answer anything. And I bloody well _was_ kidnapped, I was there!" She spotted the three guards some way away, one sitting on a chair and holding his foot. "They grabbed me and... Oh my God!" she gasped. "They shot Jack! They..."

"Calm. Down," Ro'ulan said, slowly and firmly. Rose found herself shutting up. He didn't shout, she doubted he ever needed to. He had the kind of presence that gave such orders as 'calm down' the power of a shouted 'shut up', if not more. "I understand that you're upset, but becoming hysterical isn't going to get you the answers you want."

Rose opened her mouth to say that she _was not_ hysterical, but he shut her up with a look. He reminded her of her secondary school headmaster. The one who'd talked to her slowly and softly for a half an hour after catching her and a couple of others smoking behind the school. Rose had never touched a cigarette again.

"I assure you," intervened Nollon. "The guards carry nothing but energy weapons, your friend suffered nothing more than an electric shock. There will be no lasting damage. Now, if you'll come with me..." This time when he reached out for her Rose allowed him to take her by the elbow and lead her toward the double doors. She wasn't going to get any answers standing around here and the concerted gazes of the twenty or thirty men in the room was beginning to intimidate her a little. Nollon seemed nice enough, maybe alone she could convince him that this had all been a mistake and he'd let her go. Somehow she doubted that would happen with Ro'ulin standing over them.

The doors led into a large hall, all white stone like the room, with cavernous ceilings. It reminded her vaguely of a cathedral. A large window at one end let in vast amounts of natural light, but Rose couldn't see much more than sky outside it as her green guild led her in the opposite direction toward more wooden doors at the other end. More light came in through smaller windows all along the top of the walls, increasing the churchy feel of the place.

"What is it with this planet and white stone?" she muttered to herself, not really intending it as an actual question.

It was answered anyway. "It has a calming effect and is aesthetically pleasing," Nollon said, smiling at her kindly.

Rose looked at him wearily. She still felt a little weak and sick. "Well, it's not calming me any. You gonna tell me what's happening or what? Why was I kidnapped? What do you want me for?"

"You have _not_ been kidnapped," he explained patiently, and Rose began to get annoyed with his constantly calm patience. "You have been taken into CPF care pending an investigation into your treatment."

"Alright," Rose said, stopping in her tracks and pulling her arm out of Nollon's grasp. She folded her arms and glared at him. "What's the CPF and treatment by who?"

Nollon sighed, but seemed to accept that Rose wasn't going anywhere with him until she had an explanation. "The CPF is the Commission for the Protection of Females. It was reported to us earlier today that you were being mistreated by the men responsible for your welfare. The situation was deemed serious enough to warrant your removal from their care until such a time as we can determine whether relocation will be necessary. I promise, there is no need for alarm. We simply have your best interests at heart here."

"What are you talking about 'relocation'?" Rose demanded. "And if I was being mistreated, which I'm _not_, what business is it of yours anyway? And as for 'responsible for my welfare', _no one_ is responsible for my welfare but me. If you really cared about what was best for me you'd show me how to get out of here so I can get back to my friends and make sure that Jack's okay."

"I assure you," Nollon said again, the first signs of exasperation beginning to show. "You're friend suffered nothing more than an electric shock. We're not barbarians. By now he's back on his feet as though it never happened." Rose opened her mouth, but Nollon held up his hand. "Please, let me continue. I understand that you are anxious to get back to your home and I appreciate that this is all a bit of a shock. However, I assure you that this _is_ the best place for you to be right now. And I'm sure you're friends will be here soon. Information about where you have been taken was left with them. Then we can begin the process of getting you back home as soon as possible. But to do that I first need you to come with me."

If he "assured" her one more time, Rose thought, she was going to hit him. Unfortunately, her options were severely limited. She could try to cut and run, but she didn't have the vaguest idea where she was. She could be in another city or on another planet for all she knew. If Nollon could be trusted the Doctor and Jack knew where she was and would be showing up here themselves fairly soon, which meant that as much as she _did not_ want to cooperate with these people it might be her only viable option. And if the Doctor _did_ know where she was, or at least where she was supposed to be, he'd be turning up there in fairly short order. So, it might be best to just go were they wanted her to be and wait for the rescue party there.

She was so sick of needing to be rescued she could scream.

Rose bit her lip as she considered her options. Nollon waited patiently, which only served to annoy her more. However, if these people did this on a regular basis he was probably used to extremely unhappy women. Suddenly the memory the guard trying to lead that lady away in the Plaza of Glass popped into her head and she couldn't suppress a shutter.

"Why did you think I was being mistreated?" she asked.

"It's complicated," Nollon sighed. "Look, I assure you that you will be given a chance to hear the evidence and to state your wishes before a panel of adjudicators. But in order to get that far in the process..."

"I have to go with you now," Rose finished for him. "Fine. I don't like it, but I don't seem to have a huge number of options here. Where are we headed?"

"The medical lab first," Nollon said, motioning her to proceed him down the hallway. "Just to make sure you're in full health. It's standard procedure. Then I'll take you somewhere were you can rest and eat while we await the arrival of your friends."

"Okay, but quit 'assuring' me, yeah? It's getting on my nerves."


	4. The Palest Blush of Camellias

**Chapter 4**

**The Palest Blush of Camellias **

_Pink Camellias: Longing for you_

The Tulorins had very literal minds when it came to naming things. The Plaza of Trees, like the Plaza of Glass, was very much what it sounded like. Walkways paved in white stone lined the edges and crisscrossed the heart of the plaza, but other than that it was basically a forest surrounded by tall white buildings.

The Doctor had actually been rather grateful for the length of the walk across the city. As much as he wanted to get to Rose as soon as possible, he knew he had to calm himself down first. His initial impulse, to find this Commission for the Protection of Females and start taking it apart bit by bit until he found Rose, was not a realistic plan of action. He needed to find out what they thought they were doing first, see if he couldn't get her back _without_ bringing the full power of the Tulorin government down on their heads and putting either Rose or Jack in any more danger than usual. He could worry about dismantling the commission (and possibly the government) when Rose was safely back aboard the TARDIS where these nuts couldn't get to her. Besides, all he really needed was to be allowed to see her. He was sure that if he could manage to get himself and Jack in the same room with her, the three of them could find a way back out again.

Unfortunately, to manage any plan at all the Doctor needed to be in control of himself. Something that he was finding rather difficult at the moment. Strange, there had been a time when he'd been able to keep his head in any situation. But then, there had also been a time when he'd been a pacifist. That all seemed so far away now. The war had taken... well, it had taken everything. However, one of the many things it had taken was his belief that violence was never the answer. There were times, he now knew, when it seemed to be the only answer. And he'd learned to be very, very good at implementing that answer. Better than he liked to think about and far better than he ever had any intention of letting his companions know about.

The war had shattered his self-control as well, leaving him with a temper he couldn't always manage and a soul deep, irrational terror that he was going to lose the few things he still had. And that was the problem where Rose was concerned. There were times when she could calm him when nothing else could, bringing him back to reality and out of the darkness and silence the loss of the his people had left inside of him. But she was also the one thing in the universe that could strip away what self-control he had faster than any other. He'd known her for barely a day the first time they'd wound up shouting at one another, standing on a street corner in the middle of London, in the middle of an alien invasion. She could make him positively furious faster than any other person he'd ever known. And there was nothing that could take his control and reason and blow them away faster than a threat to his Rose.

Except that it was when Rose was threatened that he needed his control and reason the most. And so he spent the walk across the city struggling to bring his temper into check and force his mind to work clearly.

The trees of the plaza he now stood in were very tall and dense at the top, which meant that underneath their shade there was little undergrowth and the entrances to the buildings around its edges were visible through the trunks. The sky had clouded over during their walk, threatening rain and plunging the world into a sort of twilight. A single building dominated one entire side of the plaza, which while not as large as the Plaza of Glass was a football field in size at least. Instinctively the Doctor headed for it and as they neared it they could see the sign above the door - Commission for the Protection of Females.

The Doctor stopped then and took a deep breath. He turned to Jack and for the first time realized what the silent walk across the city must have been like for him. He was clearly worried and far more tense than the Doctor would have anticipated. The ex-time agent was usually calm and cool in a crisis, but just then he was watching the Doctor with a vaguely worried expression, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. Which, the Doctor reflected, he probably was. Had he seemed _that_ out of control to him? He'd thought he had been keeping himself in check fairly well while he fought his internal battle, but evidently he hadn't. Damn.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked, remembering the injury for the first time since they'd left the Plaza of Glass with a twinge of guilt.

"Fine," Jack answered, swinging his arm around to demonstrate that all was still in working order. "I'm ready for whatever you're planning."

"Nothing too strenuous yet," the Doctor assured him. "I'm going to try playing along for the moment, see if we can't get them to give us Rose themselves. Or at least let us see her. If seeing her is all we can manage though, be ready to make a break for it. We'll worry about taking this place apart _after_ we get her safely out of it."

"Sounds good to me." Jack seemed relieved, though whether by the plan or by his manner the Doctor chose not to speculate on.

"Right," the Doctor said, eyeing the building with dislike. Societies for prevention of cruelty to animals, children, plants, robots, and solar systems he understood. Those made sense. But who actually felt the need to create something like this, an organisation apparently with the power to take any women from anywhere at anytime?

He glanced at Jack and felt the guilt return again. He didn't have just one companion anymore and as completely self-sufficient as Jack appeared to be, the Doctor knew he should have stopped to think about how this might have been affecting him as well. He'd just taken a little walk off the deep end without thinking twice about him. "Thanks, by the way."

Jack was clearly taken aback a little. "Huh?"

"For earlier," the Doctor said. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly when we were talking to that guard back there."

"Hey, no big," Jack answered. He looked the Doctor straight in the eye and there was something more serious in his expression than the Doctor was used to seeing. "I understand. I'm worried about her, too. So, let's just go get her back."

He really had to learn to stop underestimating humans, the Doctor thought. Jack might seem shallow and irresponsible at times, but he'd once been a Time Agent and they didn't take fools. It had just been so long since another soldier had had his back that he kept forgetting now that someone did. Which was more than unfair to Jack.

The Doctor nodded, acknowledging both the spoken words and the unspoken ones as well. What ever happened, Jack would follow his lead and watch his back. They quickly fell into step as they started off again.

Like everything else, the building was made of white stone, with a small flight of stairs leading up to the entrance, consisting of two massive wooden doors which stood wide-open. They entered a brightly lit cavern of a room, with soaring ceilings and distant walls. Hallways seemed to lead off in all directions, each seeming to be equally cavernous. Two staircases, each grand enough for a castle, stood at either end of the far wall sweeping majestically upward. The whole scene was lit with a soft yellow light that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. People headed to and fro, all men, and none taking the slightest notice as two more entered.

Jack let out a low whistle. "Nice architecture," he said. "Think it's intimidating enough?"

"It certainly gets the point across," the Doctor answered, spotting a large desk against the far wall with a grey skinned man sitting behind it. There were other desks along the wall, but this one seemed the largest and more importantly didn't seem to be currently dealing with anyone else, as many of the others were.

He tilted his head toward the desk and Jack nodded. "Let me do most of the talking, but try look as charming and harmless as you can," he said quietly as they headed across the room.

"Got it."

"Can I help you?" the alien behind the desk asked with a helpful smile as they approached.

"I hope so," the Doctor said, smiling and adopting as innocent a demeanor as he could manage. "I think there's been some kind of a mistake. My companion was taken earlier this afternoon and I was given this." He handed the card across. "I don't understand what this is all about, but we'd really like to get this cleared up as soon as we can. Is she here? Is she alright?"

The alien took the card smiling. His expression changed immediately after he read it and he curtly directed them to wait while he got someone to deal with them. A moment or two later a very young man, barely out of his teens apparently, arrived and lead them up the staircase to the left and down a succession of hallways before leaving them in a small room with a table and several chairs, asking them to have a seat and someone would be with them shortly. He'd nervously refused to answer any and all questions, no matter how politely he was asked.

"Great place," Jack commented, tossing himself into a chair. "Nice how everyone is so helpful and informative."

The Doctor paced around the room quickly, but there were no windows and besides the chairs and table - all wood and carved in simple, elegant styles - the room was empty. He finally took a seat next to Jack.

"I don't like this," the Doctor said.

"What's to like?" Jack shrugged. "These are the guys to kidnapped Rose. I wasn't expecting to feel all warm and fuzzy toward them."

Frowning, the Doctor shook his head. "But did you notice the looks? The sudden change in attitude after they saw the card?"

"What, the part where the looked at us like we were the scum of the earth? Yeah, noticed that. It was the same with that guard back in the Plaza of Glass. Get the feeling we've already be tried and found guilty of something?"

"Exactly," the Doctor said. "They take Rose without so much as a by your leave and then treat us like _we've_ done something wrong. They clearly seem to think that _we're_ the threat here. It's the why I can't figure out. Commission for the Protection of Females... Protection from what is what I'd like to know."

"From whatever might harm them," answered a voice from the doorway. They turned to find a tall man, grey and bald with fish like-eyes striding in. "I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get here. I'm afraid we're a bit busy at the moment." He seated himself across from them and took out an electronic notebook from his pocket. "Now if you'll please give me your female's name and tell me which of you is the primary guardian."

"I am," the Doctor said without hesitation, seriously disliking the terminology. "And her name is Rose Tyler. What did you think was going to harm her?"

"Please," the alien said, holding up a hand and the Doctor bit back an angry reply and reminded himself that he was supposed to be acting calm and reasonable here. "How old is she and how long has she been in your care?"

"She's nineteen in Terran Standard Years and she's been with me for nearly a year in that same system," the Doctor said, forcing himself to relax and act normal.

"And before that?"

"She lived with her family." Somehow he didn't think saying that she lived with her mum and worked in a department store would go over very well here.

"Is she married or promised to anyone?"

"No."

"Has she ever been married or promised to anyone?"

"No."

"Are her parents still living?"

"Her mother is. Her father died some years ago."

"Who is her mother's guardian then?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but managed to swallow back all the remarks that came to mind. "I don't know. No one told me."

"Did either of her parents have any other children?"

"No."

The Doctor could just hear the rain starting outside.

ooOOoo

It was raining.

Rose could see it through the window from where she was sitting and hear it falling outside the little room she was in. She was alone for the first time since she got to this place and the sense of isolation was bothering her, though she couldn't have said why. The room she'd been shown to was nice, she probably would have thought it was charming under any other circumstances with the soft green carpet, the bed and the wardrobe in some kind of dark wood, and the window which looked out over the white roofs of the complex to green hills beyond. It was lovely, but she could hardly feel comfortable enough here to relax enough to enjoy it. She'd sat down on the bed not knowing what else to do and had woken just now, much to her own surprise.

It had taken about a half an hour for Rose to be fully scanned and tutted over by a nurse while she sipped gratefully at the tea they gave her. Nollon had spent the time working on a small computer screen he'd taken out of his pocket collecting all of Rose's details - name, age, species, allergies, religions she couldn't stand, favourite colour, all the basics. At the end of it, she'd been taken off again, this time to an entirely different part of the compound which meant walking across a skyway, which was when Rose got her first good look at where she was.

They were five stories up and the glass tube of the skyway stretched above a forest beneath them, through which Rose could see nothing. Behind them the massive cathedral-like structure of the commission blocked all sight of the city in that direction. More massive, though slightly lower buildings could be seen to their right and left, beyond which the mixture of trees and stone that was the capital city of Temrin 8 could be seen. They were on the edges of it here though and ahead of them, beyond the slightly smaller structure they were headed for, Rose could see green rolling hills, segmented by hedgerows. It looked rather like Devon, she thought, with an unexpected surge of homesickness. As much as she loved travelling the universe, there was always something nice about visiting home as well and it had been a while since they'd last been there.

"Is _all_ of this the commission?" Rose had asked.

Nollon had laughed. "Of course not." He'd motioned to the left. "That is Hulori Hospital. It the finest institution for women's health on the planet," he added with some pride. "And that complex," this time he motioned to the right, "houses the department of Female Health and Safety of the University."

Rose had shook her head as they finally entered the smaller building behind the main commission. The corridors here were smaller, more human sized and less overly-grand. "You guys really have a thing about women, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the CPF, the women's hospital, a whole segment of a university all about women... I mean, what is it with you guys? It's not that it's not flattering and all, but _why_?"

Nollon had seemed rather taken a back. "Why wouldn't we take a keen interest in your sex. After all, there are no children without women to carry them. None of us would exist if our mothers hadn't either given birth to us or laid our eggs. As children they protect us, nourish us. Once we are old enough, it is only right that we should care for them as they once cared for us."

Rose, with a twinge of guilt, had wondered how long it had been since she'd called her mother. "Yeah, but... I mean, aren't you taking it a little far?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand. In what way?"

He'd seemed genuinely confused and Rose had given up.

They'd seemed to walk straight through the building until she could see those green hills again through the windows, before Nollon knocked on a wooden door just like a hundred others they'd passed. It had been opened by a slightly plump, middle aged man with a kind face and slightly greying hair. He'd been introduced to Rose as Tobis and after promising to 'keep her informed', Nollon left her there with him.

Rose had looked after him, feeling unexpectedly bereft. He'd been the only person she knew here and if he hadn't been exactly helpful when it came to getting out, at least he'd been nice about it. She'd made herself push that aside though, it was clearly going to be up to her to get herself out of here without help.

Tobis had led Rose into a pleasant garden surrounded by a pillared walkway, like the cloister of a cathedral, only smaller and round. A couple of benches and bushes and small flower beds sat within the centre, open to the sky above. Around that the covered walkway was paved in brown stone, the first not-white stone Rose had seen in this place. It was a sharp but pleasant contrast to the white pillars. Straight across from where she stood was an archway that led into what looked like a comfortable sitting area, with couches and cushions. The windows beyond looked out over the rolling farm country outside the city. Evenly spaced around the circular area to either side of them were wickerwork doors.

What had taken Rose aback though was that a girl was sitting on one of the benches in the garden, a book open in her lap. She'd been the first other female Rose had seen since she'd arrived here and for some reason she took her by surprise. She looked human and about twelve or thirteen, pale with long, straight brown hair and freckles. She'd given Rose a tiny, shy smile before going back to her book.

As he'd led her around the garden to the right, Tobis had told Rose that until everything was sorted out, she'd be staying here. He had an unexpectedly soft voice, almost velvety, which sounded strange coming from someone who looked like somebody's father.

He'd stopped at the fourth door along the right hand side, nearly halfway to the sitting area, and opened it, motioning Rose into the room beyond. Under any other circumstances Rose would have found the whole place charming. Under any other circumstances she would have been predisposed to like Tobis right off and would have be happy to lounge around in the garden for while and chat to the other girl. It may have been the very fact that under any other circumstances Rose would have liked the place that caused her agitation from earlier to hit her again full force.

"Look, this has all been a mistake. I shouldn't even be here. They seem to think that I'm being mistreated or something, but I haven't been. I... I just want to get back to my friends, okay?" She'd been beyond horrified to find herself suddenly on the verge of tears. Maybe it was the kind and understanding look on Tobis' face, she didn't know. She sat down on the bed with a thump and looked up at him, helplessly. "Can't you help?"

"I wish I could, Rose," he said kindly. "But that's not up to me. Don't worry though. You wouldn't be the first girl to end up here because of a misunderstanding. You have to understand though, they have to take every report seriously, just in case. Most of the time it all comes to nothing and if everything really is alright you will be out of here very soon."

"How soon?" Rose had demanded, trying to sound strong but somehow it came out sounding plaintive.

"I'm not sure. It could be as soon as tomorrow, if your guardians arrive quickly enough this afternoon and everything goes well."

Now, alone and worried and not even sure how long she'd been asleep, Rose sat on the little bed and bit her lip, tyring to hold back another annoying prickle of tears. Why the hell not today? Why couldn't they just let her go home when they all kept saying that they just wanted what was best for her? What was best for Rose was to get back to the Doctor!

She closed her eyes and took a keep breath. It was alright, she told herself. It wouldn't take that long for the Doctor to figure out where she was. In the mean time, she could start looking for escape routs.

Tobis had left her to 'get some rest' after telling her where the facilities were should she need to freshen up. Rose had tossed herself back on the bed, trying to think of a reasonable method of escape and had been asleep before she even knew she was tired. Stress, she thought, it had to be stress.

A knock on the door almost made her jump and she groaned inwardly. It wasn't like this was the first time she'd been imprisoned somewhere. The prison on Judicia had been worse than this and so had the one she'd been in last week. She couldn't put her finger on what unnerved her so much about this place, when to all outward appearances it was lovely. Although, it may have been that very fact that made it so uncomfortable.

"Yeah?" she called, standing up and smoothing her skirt down. Expecting another eerily solicitous male, she experienced the same surprise as when she'd first entered the garden and seen a another female. This girl was about Rose's height, though a bit on the plump side, and looked about Rose's age, though she was a light mint colour with hair a violent shade of blue. Rose had seen her kind of alien before, like humans they turned up almost everywhere, but just for the moment she couldn't remember what they were called. What really caught Rose's attention though was the livid bruise on the side of her face.

"Tobis sent me to fetch you for dinner," she said, folding her hands primly against the long skirt of her dress, which looked like something out of a Jane Austen novel. "My name is Cel," the girl added.

"Rose," Rose answered. She followed the other girl out into the covered walkway and shivered slightly in the unexpectedly chilly air the rain seemed to have brought with it. Rose rubbed at her arms a little, thinking longingly of her jacket which she'd taken off as the day warmed up and tucked into her bag with her shopping. And oh, that seemed an impossibly long time ago now.

"Are you being held here, too?" Rose asked, as much to distract herself from the sudden swell of longing as to learn something.

"Held?" Cel asked, eyeing her strangely as she led the way to the sitting room area Rose had seen when she first arrived. "That's an odd way to put it. I'm staying here, yes. Until the commission decides my case."

"But why?" Rose asked. "I mean, don't you miss your family, wouldn't you rather be home?" She couldn't help looking at that bruise again, worrying about what Cel had done to deserve that. She had a hard time imagining Tobis or Nollon raising their hand to anyone, but on the other hand she wouldn't have taken them for kidnappers either.

"What does missing my family have to do with anything?" Cel inquired, looking as confused as Nollon had looked when Rose had questioned him earlier.

"Never mind," Rose sighed, pleased to be entering the room which was warm.

From the main entrance to the area, Rose had only seen the chairs and couches, as she entered the room properly she could see more of it - bookshelves and a desk lined the wall to her right while to her left was a round table with chairs and what looked like a small kitchen area beyond it. The table was currently laden with food that smelled divine and reminded Rose that she hadn't eaten since that meat pie sort of thing back in the Plaza of Glass. Tobis ushered her into a seat next to Cel and made quick introductions. Rose eyed her fellow... well, captives, she guessed, with curiosity.

There were only five of them and all looked to be Rose's age or younger. On Cel's other side was the human looking girl Rose had seen in the garden earlier, whose name it seemed was Bephan. She offered another shy smile before looking back down at her lap, although there was no book there this time. Next to her was a another girl who also looked human except for her brightly turquoise eyes and matching hair, introduced as Katyä. Beside her was a green girl, the same kind of alien as Nollon apparently, who looked no more than ten or eleven. She piped up quickly enough and rattled off a very long name, none of which Rose caught, before Tobis placed his hand on her shoulder to quiet her and informed Rose that she was called Laris as he took his seat next to her. Next to him, on Rose's other side, was an elfin looking girl, with black hair, of perhaps sixteen, who gave her name as Alyssa in the a soft, clear voice.

Conversation was desultory at best during the meal. Almost no one spoke, except for Laris, who began rattling on about a different thing every five minutes before someone would kindly remind her of the food in front of her. Rose tried to raise the question of what they were all in for only to be met with a glare from Katyä, an appraising look from Alyssa and expressions of confusion from everyone else. Not even Laris attempted an answer, although that could have been because her mouth had been full at that point. All other questions regarding the commission were answered by Tobis with the same frustrating calm and assurances that she had nothing to worry about that she'd got from Nollon.

Eventually, she gave up questioning and focussed on the meal instead, wondering vaguely what the Doctor and Jack were up to. Had they found this place? Were they developing a plan to get her out of here even now? She hoped so.

When they finished eating they collected the dishes together and put them on a counter in the corner. Rose was about to ask where the sink was when the wall beside the counter opened and the whole counter moved along like a conveyer belt, taking the dishes and leftovers away. Rose leaned forward, wondering how it was triggering and if she could fit through that opening. Laris, standing beside her, misread Rose's interest.

"It's okay," she said, helpfully. "There's other food in the cupboards if you get hungry again later. There always is. Do you know how to play Recshal?"

"Umm, no actually," Rose answered hurriedly, hoping Tobis hadn't noticed her interest in the little opening in the wall, which had closed now.

"I can teach you," offered the girl hopefully. "It's a lot of fun."

Before Rose could think of a reasonable objection, Laris had taken her by the hand and was leading her over to a smaller table in the sitting area, rattling on about the game all the while. The other girls were already arranging themselves on the couches or chairs, apparently settling in for the evening. Laris pulled out a deck of playing cards of a type Rose hadn't seen before and proceeded to teach her a confusing game which you won by getting rid of all of your blue and purple cards, unless they had a green thing with tentacles on, called a Er while getting a hold of as many green and beige cards as possible, except if they had an Er.

Laris talked continually about everything from books to plants to solar systems but nothing, much to Rose's annoyance, about the commission or about what to do with an Er on a beige card when Laris had just put down an Er on a green card.

It was another hour before Tobis left them, wishing them all a good night and telling Rose that if he was needed, his room was the one just to the right of the main entrance. A bit of knowledge Rose tucked away for further consideration. With him gone, Rose felt there might finally be a chance at getting some answers about this place.

"How did you end up here?" she asked when Laris had, surprisingly as it seemed, paused for breathe.

The girl looked confused. "The guards brought me. Didn't they bring you?"

"Yes," Rose said. "But I guess I mean, why did they bring you?"

"Cause they thought I should come," Laris answered and Rose had to take a deep breath and remind herself that Laris was only a kid.

"But why?"

"Why does it matter?" Katyä interrupted, from where she sat reading a little ways away.

"Why does it matter to you if I ask?" Rose retorted, liking Katyä less the longer she was here.

Katyä sniffed. "Why are _you_ here then?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Rose answered, her annoyance at the entire situation finally getting the better of her. "No one will tell me the first thing about this place or why I'm here or why anyone else is here, and when I ask all I get told is that I shouldn't worry about it! As if being kidnapped and held captive was something I shouldn't mind at all."

"_Kidnapped_?" Katyä said, in shocked horror. "How can you possibly..."

"You weren't born on this planet, were you Rose?" Alyssa asked calmly, putting aside the sewing she'd been working on."

"No."

"Oooo!" Laris almost squealed leaning forward.

Alyssa merely nodded. "Where you are from, are those who are harmed or mistreated not taken from those who mistreat them?"

"Kids are," Rose answered. "And animals. But I'm not a kid. I don't need anyone deciding that I'm being 'mistreated' or whatever and taking me away from my friends without asking my feeling on the matter first. Where I'm from that's called kidnapping."

"Here, when done by a proper authority, it is called intervention," Alyssa said, but was interrupted before she could get any farther.

"Where are you from?" Laris asked in some excitement, but she was drowned out by Katyä who had been practically vibrating with indignation while Rose was speaking.

"What right do you have to judge their actions as though you have the understanding to know what's best?"

Rose stared at her in shock for a second. "What _right_? This is my life, what right does anyone else have to decide there's something wrong with it?"

"You're female," Katyä said sharply. "As women we can't always know what is best for us. The commission is here to..."

"I sure as hell _do_ know what's best for me," Rose interrupted, shocked almost beyond words. "And who are _you_ do decide that I don't have enough brains to..."

"That's enough," Alyssa said firmly but without raising her voice, cutting Rose off. "From both of you," she added with a look at Katyä.

She turned back to Rose with a sigh. "This must all be very strange to you. I have been given to understand that off-worlders are often taken aback at our ways. But you must understand that this," she motioned around them, "is by no means a prison and we are by no means prisoners. We have merely been given a comfortable place where we are safe while a panel of adjudicators determines whether or not it is safe for us to return to our homes."

"If it's not a prison, why won't they let me _leave_," Rose demanded. "And who gives them the right to say whether I'm safe or not with the people I'm living with?"

"The law," suggested Cel, entering the conversation for the first time. She had got up to put the book she was reading back on the shelves when the discussion had started and was now leaning against the back of the couch across from the one Alyssa sat on, looking at Rose with frank curiosity. "I don't think there are any law books here, but if you asked Tobis or your case worker about it I'm pretty sure they could tell you about it."

"You have laws taking away women's rights to make their own decisions, huh?" Rose said dismally. "We have a lot of names for that where I'm from and none of them are nice."

"Here it is called protection," said Katyä, looking at Rose like she was a bug.

Rose snorted. "You _would_ say that."

"Meaning?" Katyä demanded, but Alyssa held up her hand.

"Please, both of you. Arguing will do little good but upset everyone."

"It's a good system for the most part," Cel said. "It helps a lot of people. You may have ended up here as a mistake, Rose, I don't know. But for the most part the women who end up here _are_ here out of genuine need."

"But who decides _that_?" Rose asked.

"The adjudicators."

"No, I mean who decided that I needed to come here in the first place? I sure wasn't making any complaints."

Cel shrugged. "The commission."

"They must have received some information from a concerned individual," Alyssa said.

Bephan spoke up then for the first time, not looking up from her book and speaking in a barely audible voice. "Anyone may contact the commission with information regarding the possible mistreatment of a female. The commission then takes that information and determines whether or not the situation seems serious enough to warrant the removal of the female from her guardian or guardians pending review of the situation by a panel of adjudicators."

They all fell still, staring at her in shock, and she blushed deeply when she noticed. "My... my b-brother is in university and I s-sometimes read his b-books," she stuttered, seeming to shrink in on herself in embarrassment.

"Thank you," Rose said. "That's the clearest answer about _anything_ I've got from _anyone_ all day."

Rose slumped back on her seat, wondering where the Doctor was and wishing that, where ever that was, she was there as well.


End file.
